I Will Wait
by Zeea
Summary: Kili falls during the Battle of the Five Armies (Sequentially the prequel to A Failure to Protect)


_Sequentially a prequel to A Failure To Protect s/8949035/1/A-Failure-to-Protect _

_a minor note - I wrote this at 3 am, I edited it, but if there are errors, I apologize!_

**I Will Wait**

Kili's sword cleaved the head from the goblin in a gruesome spray of blood, and he grinned. He couldn't seem to help himself, it felt right to be fighting beside his uncle and his brother. This was what he'd been born to do. The ringing of blades, the screeches of pain and the war-cries echoed through the air. Another goblin came at him but he dispatched it just as easily before he let his eyes flick to Thorin and then to Fili who had flanked Thorin's other side. Fili had a large rock at his back, and it was providing him with some defense, but Kili saw a goblin standing atop it, ready to drop down onto his brother's back.

He was too far away, he could never get to Fili in time. Swiftly Kili speared his sword into the body of a fallen orc at his feet so that he could yank his bow from his back. He'd started the battle with his bow, but as it had quickly became a felt dealt in close quarters, he'd switched to his sword. But now, he grabbed for an arrow and with a twinge of loss at the realization that it was his last, he aimed and watched with an anxious heart as it soared through the air.

The goblin gave a pained cry as the arrow pierced its skull. It tumbled down from the rock and landed at Fili's feet. Fili looked at it in alarm, and then his eyes found Kili's. Kili gave him a quick cocky grin, before jerking his head toward an orc that was getting ready to swing.

Kili felt a heartbeat of satisfaction before his eyes found his uncle. Thorin was wounded, badly from what he could tell, but he wasn't giving up, he was a fighter. That was what Kili wanted to be. He didn't want to die, but if he were to perish, dying in battle, with his uncle and brother at his side, he could accept that.

He heard something approaching him fast, he spun and found three wargs bearing down on him. He would make his uncle proud. He swung and the leg of the closest warg fell to the ground a moment before the warg did. But he didn't get his sword up quick enough, another warg was on him, he felt the slice of pain over his arms and chest, the beasts claws shredding through fabric and flesh.

But Kili wasn't about to give up. He drove his blade into the monster and felt the warg's other claw swipe across his middle. Warm blood spilled from the gash in his gut and he clutched a hand to it tightly, half afraid to look down for fear of seeing his insides bared to the outside. He twisted the blade and the beast fell, and he wrenched it free. The third warg stood on the other side of the fallen bodies, and Kili heard Thorin let out a yell, he wondered if Thorin had seen, if Fili and Thorin would see Kili's death blow.

The warg hadn't moved, and Kili turned his head, if he was to die, he wanted to see his uncle and brother one last time. They were deeply involved in the fight, and neither knew that Kili was at his end. The blade driving into Kili's back was a surprise, he felt it deep, felt it scrape on his ribs. His breath left him and he saw the warg turn to attack someone else.

Kili's knees turned weak and he fell onto them. Fili, he thought. Was someone watching his back? Would he survive the battle? Kili fell forward, one hand still clutching his gut and he tried to drag himself toward Fili, to say one last goodbye. Kili didn't make it far before his strength had left him. "Fili," he whispered, his eyes fixed on his brother. His brother was swift with his sword, making quick work of all the creatures that came at him.

Fili had a grace in fighting that Kili had never been able to grasp, he had always enjoyed watching the way his brother fought, with power and strength. The world around Kili started to dim, but he continued to watch Fili, as he silently wondered if he would ever see his dear older brother again. His eyes grew heavy, but he was unwilling to close them, unwilling to look away from the glow that his brother had seemed to take on, brighter and brighter until Kili had no choice but to close his eyes against it.

When he opened them again he knew in an instant that he was no longer amidst the battle. He got to his feet and inspected his surroundings, a large grassy meadow. He knew exactly where he was, but also knew that it was not real. Kili had spent many hours playing in that meadow, staging mock battles with his brother, as they pretended to travel to The Lonely Mountain, to defeat the great dragon.

As Kili looked around he saw the white misty veil that stood where the trodden path that had once led to his home. He knew that he was supposed to go through it, to step into it, and on the other side he would be greeted by his lost ancestors. But he looked back into the clearing, pictured Fili, and he couldn't bring himself to leave. Fili, his brother, who had always protected him. Kili was afraid his brother would blame himself for Kili's death. He wondered how long it would be before the battle ended, before Fili found him, and he felt a deep regret for his brother's pain.

He glanced back toward the veil before he sunk down onto the grass to wait. Would Fili live through the battle? Without knowing how, Kili knew that Thorin was going to die, but that he wouldn't appear where Kili was. But Fili would, and Kili would wait. Time did not matter, be it five minutes, ten days, or one hundred years, Kili would be there waiting.

A sound from several feet away had Kili turning his head. He looked and Fili lay on the ground, arms at his side, eyes closed, unmoving. Joy sparked through Kili, happiness that his brother was with him once again, only to be immediately overwhelmed by the regret that his brother had lost his life. He didn't move, and neither did Fili. Kili shifted in the grass, and then he saw Fili's eyes open. He was on his feet in an instant, but he still did not move toward his brother.

When Fili sat up, Kili felt the grin pulling at his lips and he took one step forward before Fili's eyes fixed on him. "You're here." He managed out and saw the sheer relief on Fili's face. "I waited," Kili took another step forward but Fili moved faster, he was on his feet and his arms were around Kili so tightly that his bones ached, yet he was unwilling to pull away and hugged his brother back just as tightly.

"I wondered if you would..." Kili felt his smile falter. "I would have waited no matter how long it took."


End file.
